Games that know how to do boss fights

[hazabaza1]

Been playing Tales of Graces f with a buddy recently, I just reminded me of how fun the Tales boss fights are.
While the soundtracks aren't particularly outstanding (mainly because it's being overshadowed by all the special attack sounds) and what with it being a real time arena based RPG there's not much tactical application aside from "hit enemy a lot and dodge/block when necessary) but all the bosses have decent to very good story purposes, creative designs, and any game that stops me and my friend from just fuckin' around and making jokes to actually talking about what item or arte to use and when gets points from me.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I consider a boss fight 'done right' is either mostly QTE or scripted. I mean, I could use Metal Gear Rising as an example. With the exception of scene transitions, it was mostly just the boss and Raiden beating on each other, mashing square endlessly until their health finally got down low enough to change things up a bit. The mashing of the same basic combos that I've been using for the entire game is honestly pretty boring (and yes, I have S-ranked all of those fights on Revengeance difficulty). At least with QTEs, it's something different.

 

[Alfador_VII]

deus ex human revolution.

Not sure if you're trolling or you're insane, but you're a brave man for suggesting that.

I enjoyed the hell out of the first couple of hours of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and was really looking forward to a good game, then I got to the first boss fight.

My savegame is still at the start of that fight, and I haven't gone back to the game since.

 

[Candidus]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Shadow of the Colossus yet (unless I've missed it), with that being nothing other than a series of great boss fights.

 

[Ishal]

snip

OT: Best boss battles give you a reason to want to beat them other than to progress further in the game, they make you hate them, feel sorry for them etc. They should have phases that challenge you and make you apply all you previously learned, and maybe even improvise a bit. The best bosses I've faced have challenged me and so when I finally beat them I come away respecting and remembering them.

I just rented MGR:R and Jaysus Christo was I impressed. Generally I don't even like Kojima games but this one felt... grounded? I don't know if thats the right way to describe it, but it didn't try to be overtly serious without acknowledging that you are a ninja that can cut through just about anything.

I agree Clarion, the boss fight music was KILLER. Best part was when you were finally starting to tip the scale of the battle and doing damage to the boss the music changed to include the singing. IMO doing that acknowledged the fact that it was an over the top boss battle and let you revel in it.

Best song right here... shit its so good I might buy the album. This is already on my workout playlist.

 

[AgentLampshade]

Everything I would've said has been said, so I'll find some others:

Kingdom Hearts. (II especially, I loved how each Organisation member utilised a different weapon and element.)

The first InFamous had some awesome bosses. Pity there wasn't any on-par villains in InFamous2. Kessler is a badass.

God Of War. Need I remind you of the Chronos battle?

Resident Evil 4 had some nice bosses, I especially liked fighting Krauser.

 

[Guffe]

I think Metroid Prime has nice boss fights
Then games I often talk about are Tales of Symphonia and Xenoblade Chronicles has nice boss fights

 

[IllumInaTIma]

In terms of final boss no one beats Persona 3

Spoiler

Nyx Avatar

is just the greatest Final Boss in my opinion. Not the hardest, the greatest. He just perfectly fits into what Yahtzee considers a great boss.
1)During fight he goes through all 13 arcanas and this way tests player on what he learned about other enemies through the game
2)We know who that is!

Spoiler

That's our buddy-Ryoji! He may be a little bit irritating, but he never meant harm to anyone and transforming into that monstrosity was never his choice

3)He doesn't mock you, or keep saying stuff like "HA-HA! I AM UNBEATABLE! GIVE UP!" He just keep saying A-MA-ZING Arcana quotes.

Spoiler: pure awesomeness

 

[Batadon]

Chrono Trigger. There are no "whack it till it dies" bosses, each boss has a puzzle to solve and a lesson to teach. Going in swinging without thought will get you killed in a hurry, especially against bosses like the Golem Twins.

Plus, the music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqR7LtVLslc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojQAmkL2NXc

 

[Daystar Clarion]

snip

OT: Best boss battles give you a reason to want to beat them other than to progress further in the game, they make you hate them, feel sorry for them etc. They should have phases that challenge you and make you apply all you previously learned, and maybe even improvise a bit. The best bosses I've faced have challenged me and so when I finally beat them I come away respecting and remembering them.

I just rented MGR:R and Jaysus Christo was I impressed. Generally I don't even like Kojima games but this one felt... grounded? I don't know if thats the right way to describe it, but it didn't try to be overtly serious without acknowledging that you are a ninja that can cut through just about anything.

I agree Clarion, the boss fight music was KILLER. Best part was when you were finally starting to tip the scale of the battle and doing damage to the boss the music changed to include the singing. IMO doing that acknowledged the fact that it was an over the top boss battle and let you revel in it.

Best song right here... shit its so good I might buy the album. This is already on my workout playlist.

Yeah, the pace change is insane, and when the singing kicks in, it's just such an adrenaline rush.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

Yes to Shadow of the Colossus.
Yes to Metroid Prime, especially the Metroid Prime.
Yes to DmC3. I personally like Cerberus and Vergil's first fight best.
Yes to GoW3.
Borderlands 2 has some good ones, especially the Bunker.

One of my favorite bosses ever has yet to be mentioned, though, and that's the Minotaur from God of War the first. The giant one in the labyrinth. That blows me away every time I play it, it's such a spectacle and such a well-designed battle.

Also Bioshock. I would call every Big Daddy you choose to fight, especially the first few early in the game, a small boss battle, and they are very cool and very challenging.

 

[s0meNo0b]

The last game that I've played that I enjoyed the boss fights in was Dragon's Dogma. I played as a ranger, who make use of daggers and longbows. I just had soooooo much fun with the ranger abilities, shooting enemies from afar, aiming for weaknesses, and of course being able to climb on them and be all stabby-stabby.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Rayman Origins and Henry Hatsworth both had some great platformer bosses.

Wait wait wait wait... someone else has played Henry Hatsworth??? THAT GAME WAS OFF THE HOOK MAN!

Wasn't it, though? It's such a shame that no one bought it. Have you played Monster Tale? I don't think it's quite as good, but it's by the same people and has some similar mechanics, except that instead of a platformer/puzzle game it's a metroidvania/monster raising sim.

Also, the 'TEA TIME!' sequence is probably one of my favorite things in any game.

 

[alphamalet]

I see people mentioning Dark Souls a lot, but I honestly thought that Demon's Souls had WAY better boss fights. I feel like all of the boss fights in Dark Souls were grindfests. It fell back on the the old formula of memorizing a boss's pattern, and then hitting them when they were vulnerable. In Demon's Souls on the other hand, many boss fights were giant puzzles that you would need to figure out and then utilize your character's build in order to succeed. Take the tower knight for example, which you had to figure out how to topple him to then attack his weak head. The Dragon God was a puzzle as well, with it tasking the player to identify the changing color of the Dragon's eyes, and use that information to sneak by it. How about the Old Monk, where you MUST prove yourself by beating another player in PvP in order to succeed. Dark Souls doesn't really have any of this. The boss fights in Dark Souls are definitely good, but I think Demon's Souls just does it better. The closest Dark Souls got to a Demon's Souls boss fight was the Bed of Chaos, but the Bed of Chaos fell short because it relied too heavily on dodgy platforming mechanics. I hope that for Dark Souls II they go back to their Demon's Souls roots.

 

[StashAugustine]

Since we're on MGS, Snake Eater's final fight with the Boss is just amazing. In terms of gameplay, she's got all your abilities: you have camo, she has some designed for this fight, you have guns, she has the best weapon in the game, you have CQC, she can kick your ass if you don't do it just right. It's about finding her, wearing her down, and eventually besting her in close-quarters combat (the same way she's been beating you up until that point). In terms of story, it's incredibly moving and a fitting end to the game, would say more but don't wanna spoil. In terms of soundtrack...

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Almost of my favs have already been mentioned. Almost.

Spoiler: Pirate boss, yarrrr!

Excellently huge bosses the whole way through each with multiple phases, and this is the game that introduced the Star Wolf team who I would think count as bosses as well.

Keeping with my theme:


Interestingly, every boss in this game uses a remix of the level theme instead of a general boss theme. I have no idea what that 'alert noise' is supposed to be saying, but I do know when I hear it to get ready for a sweet boss to drop in (giant lava man here is actually one of the easiest ones).

 

[Lugbzurg]

I have fond memories of Zelda bosses, and I'm of the opinion that Twilight Princess gets them the best. They're rarely difficult, but their functionality, creativity in design, and the amount of effort put into sheer presentation more than makes up for that. The <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-lciW3qhbM>Stallord fight alone would raise my opinion high, but all of them together push it into the stratosphere.

That boss immediately sprung to mind as soon as I saw this thread.

Another that springs to mind is the final boss of Viewtiful Joe. No spoilers, just... wow. Just "wow". These people really know how to make one heck of a dramatic final boss.

Also, don't you all remember a game that came out around the turn of the century called "Conler's Bad Fur Day"? More specifically, a certain boss who sings a certain song called "Chunky Poo's Lament"? (It's not "Sloprano". That's the name of the chapter. Check the credits if you don't believe me.)

 

[BleedingPride]

Bayonetta not so much for me, the game was so easy that I didn't even have to pay attention to win. However, I will agree on DMC3. My personal favorite is the Metroid Prime Series, and Resident Evil 4 had some good fights as well. The First El Gigante fight, and the fight against "It" and the "Right Hand" were perfect.

 

[triggrhappy94]

I love how the person who said Deus Ex HR got a warning.

OT:
Resident Evil 6... jk.

From what I've seen of Metal Gear Rising, its boss fights look amazing--just straight action and it looks fun.

 

[BristolBerserker]

I'm going to have to go with the GOW series, SOTC, and MGS specifically The End boss fight. Hunting that old bastard was a lot of fun. Also the bosses in the Sly series were good, especially General Tsao's bamboo battle.